My box is holding up so far and staying dry (touch wood). I am putting tie-down straps over the top to fix it to the board. I think this adds a bit more compression onto the seals. Another downwinder today in light 15knots. So far so good. I’m starting to leave the motor on my mast more and more!
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Which folding prop design do you use? Do you know the pitch and the diameter?
then your seals are probably better than mine. In my box the lid is almost touching the box when it’s closed, so it’s not possible to compress it more.
btw, yesterday i changed the original seals with a window seal that is thicker and now water does not get inside. It’s a really nice box for the price
My advice to anyone is don’t demo a foil drive unless you are willing to part with $3.8k or build one yourself! If you are a SUP foiler or getting in to downwind paddling then they are a great tool to have. They should only ever be used well away from other surf water users. The last thing I want is a fleet of these at my local lineup! It opens up spots currently never surfed by any water craft in my local area.
Some Pros and Cons
FoilDrive (Official)
- Works out of the box
- Customer Support and spare parts
- Aussie made
- light weight, compact
- maytech remote with a sticker on it
- needs washing after every use
DIY
- If it breaks, you can hopefully fix it yourself
- endlessly searching websites for suitable parts
- waiting for parts from China
- getting a parcel every day for a month.
- need a 3D printer
- maytech remote without a sticker on it
- still needs washing after use - aluminium, copper, saltwater and electricity are not a great mix.
- building a suitable battery - spot welder required
- guessing what will work - kV, prop diameter etc
- satisfaction when it does work!
Foildrive have changed my view on efoils and hats off to them. With this kind of system you have the benefits of a little boost, but it still feels like traditional foiling. It is targeted towards real foilers and people who just want more stoke when on the water with limited time. I’d like to see a DIY targeted kit that could be self assembled. Maybe foildrive v2 will have more custom parts now that the initial uptake has been very positive.
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Do you know if Foildrive have bothered coating the magnets etc? Or have they just thrown the motors on and hoped for the best?
I wouldn’t hold my breath. There are certain elements that result in a healthy profit from a complete kit (batteries etc). You lose this if you just supply basic parts.
I’d be interested to know what the max speed for the foildrive is in the water (I should also google it as I’m sure its somewhere)…
So still going through the testing phase, but working great so far.
Happy with the electronics, I’ve shortened my cable length. Still have plenty coiled up in the box incase I want it longer for a different board.
New stronger 3D PETG prop hub seems to be holding up. Who else is doing a DIY build with any success?
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Been working on my setup for the past few weeks. I have water tested but have yet to take it out in the surf. Running a 6384 120kv outrunner with a 100 amp Flycolor esc and maytech remote. Recently resin printed a prop to see how well it lasts compared to PLA and PETG.
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Here’s my setup:
Odrive motor 6374 150 kv
ESC FlyColor 150A
Li -Po 6s 10000 mAh
Maytech RC
First I tried Gong Allvator L with no luck, then I replaced it with VELOCE PRO CLEAR L and wow, I can fly!
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Getting closer with my build. 6S4P P42A.
Box with all the components is 2.5Kg, plus 1Kg of motor
Battery and motor ready, I only have to print the motor mount and i’m ready to go.
question, why is that noone is using a dead man switch or anything with the foildrive, be it DIY or the australian commercial one ? It’s just as simple as a magnet with a reed switch
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Hi, very interesting too read about all the different setups. I’m also about building up a foil drive and I’m almost gathering all the parts together. But at the moment I’m struggling with the battery balancing / BMS. Do you use an BMS only for charging and bypasses it while riding (recharging) or is the BMS always in place. Do you have a good tip which BMS is good or some links where I can get more information? Many thanks in advance! Winterly greetings from the Baltic sea.
I don’t have a BMS on my battery.
Instead, I use an external digital balance charger for charging up my 6S battery. I’ve set my ESC to the highest 3.4V protection. Today on 5km Downwind run I came back with 85% power. I only needed a short motor burst for about 8 paddle ups in Total.
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Following thougt regarding the prop design:
For our kind of e-assistence (only get on foil) we need props with a higer pitch (then e-foiler).
Because we only move in „slow“ water. When we’re getting faster (then a low pitch becomes better) we turn of our engines 
actually it’s the other way round. If your velocity is low, then you need lower pitch to ensure the airfoils are working at the right AoA and avoid stalling the prop. See How to Calculate a Boat's Propeller Pitch & Why It Matters
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Quick question, are people using an “anti-spark” device in their builds?
Also, a battery like this should work just fine right?
Scott
Using an xt-90s connector for the battery is a simple solution that will prevent sparking.
Battery looks good IMO , but if I recall correctly some people here started with lipos and then switched to 18650/21700 (lipos degraded too fast?) . Not sure, please check in the forum. The weight difference is not that much, my 6S16Ah pack weights 1850 grams, so in the end the g/Wh is not important, especially in these small packs.
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Ah I see, you are right, I got it mixed up.
However, my point was the efficiency (thrust) at low speed.
Isn’t it very special that the “foildrive assist” use case only takes place at low speed? It totally differs from the conventional e-foil use case. So I thougt that this could impact the prop design.
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All set up and tested in the bathtub! All up weight : 2.6 kg box + 1.150kg motor+pod.
I added a reed switch that powers the Rx. The two magnets inside keep the outer magnet (to be connected to a leash) in place. Note that the reed switch must be off- centered, otherwise it’ll only ‘feel’ mangetic field lines perpendicular to the direction the switch can detect (if you use the same type of magnets i’m using, taken from an old hard drive)
I’m also happy with my embedded nuts inside the front cone. I leave a hole a tad larger than the nut dimensions, and when the hole is complete and about to be closed, i pause the printer, add the nuts, and then resume. I’ll add the cad, bom and detailed instructions once it’s been tested.
I assume all of this is common sense and probably done before and hence not patentable, but just in case, all these ideas are released for public domain.
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I am going to give this a shot too. I bought a 66112 (150kv, 2000w). https://flipsky.net/collections/e-skateboard/products/flipsky-inrunner-brushless-dc-66112-motor-150kv-2000w-for-surfing-boat-underwater-thruster-hydro-efoil
Does anyone have suggestions on the best battery configuration for this. Looking for short bursts to get up onto foil. Trying to keep things small and light, also ideally something that somewhat plug and play without any spot welding cells on my own.
Thanks
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